New Delhi: Minister of State (MoS), PMO, Jitendra Singh said that objections put forth by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge over the appointment of senior IPS officer Rishi Kumar Shukla as new CBI Director are totally “unfounded” and not based on facts.
He also said that Kharge allegedly tried to manipulate the independent assessment based criteria in order to accommodate names of his preference. “I would like to put it very straight that whatever is said by leader of Congress party, Mallikarjun Kharge is totally unfounded and not based on facts,” said Jitendra Singh.
“Kharge is guilty of trying to have manipulated or sort to have manipulated the independent assessment based criteria in order to accommodate names of his preference. Kharge is also violating the norms of probity by selectively and subjectively making interpretation of the meeting held with Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India to the media and in public as per his convenience,” said Singh.
Senior IPS officer Rishi Kumar Shukla was on Saturday appointed as CBI Director, just four days after he was shifted from the post of Madhya Pradesh DGP by the Kamal Nath government to the Madhya Pradesh Police Housing Corporation.
His appointment ends speculation over the prestigious post ever since it fell vacant on January 10 when incumbent Alok Verma was transferred as DG Fire Services.
The new appointment comes at a time when the premier investigative agency has been mired in a major controversy following an open fight between Alok Kumar and former special director Rakesh Asthana. The fight had prompted the government to intervene and in October both of them were sent on leave.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who is a part of selection committee headed by Prime Minister NarendraModi, on Saturday expressed his opposition to the appointment of Rishi Kumar Shukla as the CBI Director. He conveyed his objections in a letter to the Prime Minister, contending that Shukla has no experience of having worked in the anti-corruption unit.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]